


Dependable Promises

by Flipzfish22



Category: Haikyuu!!
Genre: Childhood Friends, Daichi's always so dependable, Fluff, M/M, Promises, SO MUCH FLUFF
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-08-14
Updated: 2017-08-14
Packaged: 2018-12-15 02:25:22
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,599
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/11796483
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Flipzfish22/pseuds/Flipzfish22
Summary: When a five year old says "I love you," nobody thinks twice about it. But if there is one thing that Daichi is good at it is being dependable, and that means keeping his promises. Even the ones passed between hand-holding five year olds beneath great oak trees.Now all he has to do is convince his best friend that his childhood words were the truth.





	Dependable Promises

At five years old, the words “I love you” and “Marry me” hold no particular value. It is just something kids say. So when Daichi held Suga’s chubby hand in his as they sat beneath the giant oak tree behind their school and declared “I love you so much, and my Mama always says that to my Daddy, so that means I’m gonna marry you,” it wasn’t that much of a surprise when they grew older the promise didn’t hold. Even the messy kiss planted on a rounded cheek didn’t do much other than have the other child smile, squeeze his hand and say, “I love you do Dai-Dai.” It had made Daichi laugh and hold up the buttercup he held in his other hand. “It’s a promise flower. So when we are older we can always be together.”

When Daichi told his mother, after school as he washed his hands for dinner his mother only smiled, rubbed his hair and softly kissed his forehead. “If he makes you smile, I don’t see why you shouldn’t.”

As years past, the promise was mostly forgotten. Mostly forgotten, as in only Daichi remembered the promise. And only because his little 5 year old brain had written himself a note that hung in the bulletin board over his desk. A note that even now, over 10 years later still hung in its place of honour, just now covered with pictures so it was only a secret he would know.

It wasn’t really until years later that Daichi actually contemplated what the note meant, when during their freshman year Suga got his first love letter. Shoved in his school locker, written in perfect handwriting, and crumbled from being pushed through the vents on the door, Daichi glared at the pink paper. It was at this moment too, that he remembered that yellowed piece of paper with his child’s block print on it. Currently behind a picture of Suga and him at the beach from the past summer. And he remembered with it the promise he had made. 

If there was one thing that Daichi was good at, it was being dependable. And that meant that every promise he made, he kept. This one was no different.

Later that night Daichi devised his plan. It was a simple plan really. Get Suga to realize that Daichi was the one he loved. It consisted of three steps:

Limit the amount of free time Suga had by convincing him joining the volleyball team was going to be fun  
Make sure that no girls confessed to Suga.  
And if Suga didn’t realize Daichi was in love with him by the time they graduated, he would confess to him himself

Simple.

Or it would have been had Suga considered to follow the plan even a little bit. The first task was convincing Suga volleyball was going to be fun. 

“You should sign up with me.” Daichi had already filled out his form and had it waiting in his backpack with a blank one for Suga. Ready for any moment to whip it out and start on his plan. 

“I’ve never played on a team before. I’m sure they don’t want me,” Sug sighed, shaking his head. “You’ve never wanted me to be on the team before.”

“You’ve played with me plenty of times! Just because you haven’t played on a school team yet doesn’t mean that everyone else is better than you.”

“Playing with you and Asahi in the park is a lot different than playing on a team. Besides, I like watching you play. Who’s going to be in the stands cheering you on if I’m not there?” He grinned, lightly smacking Daichi on the shoulder before continuing down the hall. 

Hurrying after him, Dachi tugged at his sleeve to get Suga to look at him. “It would be more fun if we could cheer each other on from the court. Think about it, you wouldn’t have to wait until after the game to give me a high-five.”

Punching him in the gut, Suga laughed as Daichi doubled over. “I see this is all about you Dai.”

A grin pulled at his lips. “Of course it is. Now come on and sign up with me. It’ll look great on your college application.”

“Hmmm… I guess it wouldn’t hurt to try it for a year. My dad will be happy I’m joining a sports club. I think he thought he would have to deal with a son who liked books more than the smell of sweat.”

Daichi’s eyes lit up, but Suga was already looking away. “Hey sweat isn’t that bad.”

Suga wrinkled his nose. “I’ve put up with it for years from you. It is bad. But maybe that’s just your special type.”

“Hey!” Daichi tried to glare at his friend, but one look at those glittering eyes and his facade cracked and a smile emerged. 

Laughing, Suga just takes his wrist and pulls him down the hall. “We are going to be late for class if we don’t hurry now.”

Now with step one completed, Daichi focussed on step two. Which was a lot harder said than done. 

Suga talked to everyone. And not with the forced politeness that others adopted, but with true genuine interest. Whether he was knowledgeable on the subject or not, Suga found a way to engage the people around him. And his smile. The smile that caused his eyes to crinkle around that adorable mole in the corner of his left. The smile that caused dimples to form at his cheeks. The smile that caused everyone around him to smile too. 

Daichi called it the “Suga Effect.” 

An effect that was one of the many reasons Daichi found himself falling harder for his best friend. And one of the many reasons that girls fell in love with Suga too. 

It was nearly impossible to stop the girls from flocking to Suga. They hung off his every word, blushed at his laughs, giggled at his smiles and gushed to their friends about his angelic good looks. 

Another reason that Daichi may or may not have been falling- and falling hard. The way Suga carried on with his life as if he had no idea the power of his looks. How one smile could make anyone forgive him. How a couple words could have even the most stoic of people kneel at his feet. 

With Daichi in the background swooning too. He had it bad.

So with the second part of his plan almost fully destroyed by Suga himself, Daichi focussed heavily on part one. Sleep, eat, live volleyball. Making sure that Suga loved it as much as he did himself. 

“Let’s practice some more. By training as a team, I know that we will be able to make it to Nationals in no time.” 

“We barely made it through the first round in the Spring Tournament this year,” Asahi responded, tugging his knees closer to his chest.

“The only way we will get better is if we practice more. We just started playing as a team the last month before the tournament this time around and we did better then we have in years. Just imagine what a whole year of teamwork will do for us.” Determination was written across his face, arms crossed and staring down at his friend.

“And we will get new teammates, making this team strong. I know we can do it.” Flashing one of his iconic smiles, Suga glanced at Daichi out of the corner of his eye. “Plus our new team Captain will make sure we do great.”

A blush took over his cheeks as he caught the look Suga was giving him. “N-new captain?”

Asahi glanced up over his knees. “We all agreed it would be you Daichi.”

“Me?”

Suga socked him in the shoulder. “Of course you, you big dummy. Even the third years understand that you have the largest driving power on this team. They are going to happily vote for you.”

“Me?” Daichi squeaked again. 

Suga laughed and his eyes crinkled framing that mole on his cheek. Daichi couldn’t stop staring. “Who else? You kept the team from falling apart this year. Everyone thinks you’re perfect for the team. Asahi thinks you’re perfect for the team. And I think you’re more than perfect for the team.”

More than perfect for the team. Daichi felt his cheeks flush hotter at the words. He looked down at Asahi who just nodded from his place on the floor. More than perfect. That’s a lot to live up to. But for Suga- he would. But never more perfect than you, Suga.

“Then we better get practicing more.” Was what he finally decided upon. 

“Sounding like the captain already,” Suga laughed and even Asahi cracked a smile. 

More than perfect- he liked the sound of that. 

\--

To be honest with himself, Daichi forgot most days he even had a plan. His life was consumed with volleyball. But not so consumed that he forgot he loved his best friend, more along the lines that he forgot he was supposed to be trying to get Suga to fall for him. 

But Daichi decided that just spending time with Suga was enough for him. And hopefully it was enough for Suga too.

\--

Daichi was pulling his shirt over his head when he felt a tap on his shoulder. 

“Hey Dai.” A glance over his shoulder told him that Suga was already changed and ready to head home. 

“I’ll be a second. Had to tear Noya away from the court again today so I’m a little behind. Wait for me?”

“As if I have ever left without you before.” Suga sat on the bench next to him, staring up at him as he changed. Making it entirely too hard to find that arm hole of his shirt, and making Daichi almost trip pulling on his pants. He didn’t even want to think of the mess that he looked to Suga in that moment. But his friend only laughed and looked up at him from beneath his feathered eyelashes, “First time changing there, Captain?”

The glare he shot at Suga was merely brushed off with another peal of silvery laughter. His glare shut everybody on the team up, no one was ready to take Daichi on when he was angry- but with Suga it always ended with a smile. Only Suga could make him such a mess.

“I was thinking with exams coming up if you wanted to come over to my house to study? My mom is making Shoyu Ramen, your favourite.” Suga shrugged his bag onto his shoulder as Daichi sat to put on his shoes. 

“Sounds great. I’ll just text my mom.”

Suga smiled like Daichi just made his day. And because of that, Daichi’s day was made too. He would do anything to have Suga smile like at him everyday. 

\--

“Everyone here did great today. I know we lost this practice match, but that doesn’t mean we have lost everything yet. These games today just show us where we have to improve. And improve we will, because no team can beat ours in heart and teamwork. So everyone heads up and be ready- we have a lot more practicing to do.”

Daichi watched everyone file onto the bus, morals considerably higher after his speech and Noya jumped on Asahi’s back to exclaim at the top of his voice, “Oh course we are awesome! But I’m going to get awesomer too, just watch me Asahi!” And then Tanaka ripped his shirt off to scream, “You’re not going to take my MVP status away from me!” whipping his shirt around his head as he did so. Everyone lost it after that. 

“You did good there Captain.” A soft hand landed on his shoulder as Suga bumped their hips together. “Your big motivational speeches are getting better.”

The tips of his ears burned, but instead of a response, Daichi yawned. 

Suga slapped Daichi on the arm before continuing onto the bus. “Come on Dai, you can sleep on the bus. 

Rubbing his arm he followed Suga into the vehicle. As soon as he took his seat at the front beside Suga, the bus started moving. There was something about buses that always made Daichi more tired than ever. Maybe it was the stuffy air, or the soft bumping of the road. But today it might have been the fact that Suga pushed on his shoulder until he was lying in his lap. 

As his eyes closed, he swore he could hear Suga whisper: “Sleep Dai, I’ll be right here when you wake up.” Sleep took him before he could answer. 

Daichi awoke to the feeling of fingers running through his hair. Suga’s fingers. Almost absentmindedly playing with the short hair making goosebumps rise on Daichi’s arms. Daichi pretended to be asleep until the fingers stopped and Suga gently prodded at his shoulder to tell him they had arrived at school. 

\--

“I hate English,” Daichi decided putting down his pencil and stretching his arms over his head. “Let’s do something else.”

Suga looked up from the floor next to him as Daichi rose took a few steps across the room and threw himself across the bed. “We only have a couple pages left.”

“We have been studying all day. Let’s take a break.” Words muted by the pillow he talked into. 

Raising one eyebrow, Suga stood too. “What kind of break?” 

The tone of his voice made Daichi turn to look at him. Suga batted his eyes at him and Daichi rolled back onto his stomach to control his blush. “Not that kind of break.”

Slowly making his way towards Daichi, he stopped when he was standing next to the bed. “And what kind of break did you think I was refering too? All I wanted to do was this-”

Suga landed on his back, arms curling around his chest as Daichi let out a groan. “You’re too heavy.”

Suga thwomped him lightly between the shoulder blades. “Are you calling me fat Captain? Because I will have you know I weigh considerably less than you.”

“Too heavy.”

Sighing, Suga rolled off his back, but kept his arms around Daichi’s middle. Daichi rolled onto his side to look at him. Faces inches apart. Breath mixing between them. Suga smiled at him and air was caught in Daichi’s throat. It was if his lungs had ceased to work. 

Suga snuggled closer until their chests were pressed close and their lips were almost touching. Daichi settled his one hand on Suga’s hip, but beyond that he didn’t move. 

This moment was a million things that he wanted to memorize. The sensation of Suga’s breath curling on his lips. The dark copper of his eyes at they just search, search, searched Daichi’s own. The soft dusting of freckles that ran down his neck and disappeared into the collar of his shirt. The slim strength of arms wrapped across his back, hands pressed against his shoulders. Warmth that seeped from those hands into his body to settle around his chest. This moment was a million snapshots he wanted to capture to hang on his wall, so every morning he could wake to this. 

And it was broken so fast when Suga leaned closer to bump their noses together. Arms untangling from each other, he rolled out of the bed. “I’ll go make something for us for lunch then.”

He pranced out of the room leaving Daichi breathless. A million moments indeed. 

\--

He was packing his room when Daichi found the note. Leaving for university in a couple of days, most of his room lay in scattered half filled boxes. Hidden behind pictures and volleyball lineups, the note was tacked to the corner of the board where it had sat for years. Next to it was his three step plan, his eyes landed on step three. 

If Suga didn’t realize Daichi was in love with him by the time they graduated, he would confess to him himself.

Graduation had passed, and Daichi stared at the paper. Confess to him himself. Smiling he packed both notes into the front pocket of his laptop bag. 

\--

“That better be the last box, my arms are killing me,” Daichi groaned, slumping onto the sofa, the only piece of furniture in the apartment so far.

A teasing voice and a soft poke in the cheek caused him to crack open his eyes. “You can’t be tired already Captain. I thought you had better stamina then that.”

Daichi just glared at the blurry picture in front of him before closing his eyes again and resting his head in the back of the couch. “I’m not your Captain anymore you know.”

A weight settled on his lap, and hair tickled his chin. Prying his eyes open, Daichi looked down at the man who had made his home on his legs, to find said man staring back at him. “You will always be my Captain, Dai.”

Suga looked up at him with such wide eyes, eyes that in the dim light still filtering through the window from the setting sun, glittered gold. That smile, the one with the dimples and the perfect framing of the mole beside his left eye, was solidly on his face. Soft hands reached out to cup his face and made Daichi look down at that ethereal beauty that was his best friend.

Suga smoothed a thumb across his cheek, from corner of lip to corner of eye. A shiver ran down Daichi’s spine, but he was frozen in the moment. “Can I tell you something Dai?”

Dropping his hands, Suga looked into his lap. Daichi found his voice, surprised it still worked. Hands working their way around Suga, pulling him closer until his head rested on his shoulder. “You’ve never had to ask before. Why would you start now?”

Taking a break he looked back up at Daichi, their faces now only a breath apart. “Would you hate me because of anything I would say?”

Pressing a kiss to the top of his head, Daichi tightened his hold on his friend. “I don’t think I could hate you even if you filled up the bathtub with spiders, turned off the lights and locked me in there with them.” He looked down to see Suga’s hands clenched onto the hem of his sweater. “And you know how much I hate spiders.”

“You promise?” Voice so small. Nothing like his best friend. 

“How about I tell you something first, then you can tell me what you want to tell me?”

Slowly Suga nodded, relaxing a little.

“When I was first starting in kindergarten I had no friends having just moved town and already having missed the first week of classes. When I got to class I sat at the back of the classroom on the carpet by myself. And then this chubby little angel walks over and sits down next to me and smiles. What a smile it was, it made me, tear stained cheeks and everything, smile too. You want to know what this little boy said to me then?”

“Please stop crying, I’ll be your best friend.” Suga smiled at the memory.

“Yes, ‘Please stop crying, I’ll be your best friend.’ And we were, still are I hope.”

“I’m pretty sure this little boy would say they are.”

“I’m glad. Well me and this boy hung out together almost everyday. I remember many play dates ending in tears until we were allowed to sleep over. And then on the last day of classes during lunch me and this boy, we sat under this oak tree across the field from the playground where the rest of the class played and I confessed to this boy.” Daichi finally looked down at Suga to find him looking up at him with glassy eyes and a smile so wide it had to hurt. He bent their heads until their lips brushed with every word. “And I stupidly didn’t tell this boy what I thought of him ever again.”

Suga pulled back and climbed out of his lap. “Wait right there. I’ll be back in two seconds. Don’t move.”

Daichi watched as he dashed the their room at the end of the hall. Shocked at the abrupt exit, but the feel of Suga’s lips made him hold his position. Suga came dashing back down the hall, something cupped in his hands. Kneeling in front of the couch, in front of Daichi, he raised his hands up so Daichi could see what they held. 

A small yellow flower winked up at him. “This is what I wanted to tell you,” Suga breathed. Leaning closer so their lips were once again almost touching. “A little boy once told me this was a promise flower. And I just wanted to say, I love you too.”

The distance between their lips disappeared, rough hands found their way to either side of Suga’s face. And Daichi decided, right there as Suga slipped his tongue across his bottom lip, that this was heaven. He had found it right here on earth, with his hands caressing Suga’s face and their lips dancing together. 

\--

Daichi was dependable. To him this meant keeping promises, all promises. Even ones exchanged between five year old lips under a great oak tree behind their school. A promise is a promise, and Daichi keeps every one. 

…

And the notes and the buttercup? They were framed and hung over the door to their room. Forever and always- their dependable promise.

**Author's Note:**

> Thank you all for reading. This is my first fanfic and I hope you guys enjoyed it. I know it was so awesome to dabble in the characters that make up this amazing anime. I was hooked from the first episode and now I can't wait for the fourth season. Since you guys have read this far I hope it won't be too much to ask to leave a comment on your thoughts. Thanks so much for reading!!!


End file.
